Thought a place for metals news might be useful:

METALS-Copper slips, demand uncertainty dominates mood
Wed Oct 7, 2009 3:01pm EDT
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* Copper stocks rise again; highest since May * Investors eye mining labor talks * Analysts expect further support from dollar weakness
(Adds NEW YORK to dateline, recasts, adds New York closing copper
prices and analyst comments) By Chris Kelly and Rebekah Curtis NEW YORK/LONDON, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Copper ended down a shade
on Wednesday in thin and volatile trade during Chinese holidays,
with rising stocks fueling uncertainty over demand against a
fragile economic background. Copper for December delivery HGZ9 on the New York Mercantile
Exchange's COMEX division eased 0.50 cent to settle at $2.7795 a
lb, after dealing in a session range between $2.7510 and $2.8040. On the London Metal Exchange (LME), copper for three-month
delivery MCU3 fell $21 to close at $6,095 a tonne. Prices of the metal used in power and construction have
doubled this year, driven by improving economic data, investor
flows and Chinese stockpiling. But sentiment has turned fragile in recent months as buying by
China, the world's top copper consumer, has tailed off and demand
from other world economies hampered by slowdown has yet to pick up
the slack. "There's been no effective economic growth caused by the
stimulus in the West," said John Meyer, analyst at Fairfax
investment bank. "We haven't seen any major infrastructure projects," he added.
"The only positive stimulus we've really seen is in China and
nearby regions." Trade was thin and volatile due a run of holidays in China
where markets shut on Oct. 1 for the National Day and Autumn
Festival holidays and only reopen on Friday. Additionally, nervousness in front of third-quarter earnings
results from aluminum producer Alcoa (AA.N) added to the lighter
conditions. "There is some nervousness out there in front of that number
that is keeping people a little bit to the sidelines today," said
Sterling Smith, an analyst for Country Hedging Inc in St. Paul,
Minnesota. "If Alcoa were to beat expectations, or up their guidance, or
preferably both, I think that will be very bullish for copper, and
for the industrial metals in general. I think you've got a lot of
hands being kind of quiet today ahead of it." A recent bout of more encouraging economic data has helped
underpin prices, including data showing German manufacturing
orders rose slightly more than expected in August on a boost from
foreign demand. [ID:nL7400974] STOCKS RISING Underlining demand concerns, LME copper stocks, which have
climbed since mid-July, rose 725 tonnes to 347,150 tonnes -- their
highest since May 2009. But recent dollar weakness is expected to support industrial
metals as a lower U.S. currency makes dollar-priced commodities
cheaper for holders of other currencies. And despite the dollar broadly firming on Wednesday, some
analysts see the currency falling further. [USD/] "If the dollar remains under pressure then the base metals
complex will continue to be supported and short players will
reduce risk," RBC Capital Markets said in a note. In the background, labor talks are being watched closely.
Chilean workers at Spence copper mine were in contract
negotiations with owner BHP Billiton (BLT.L)(BHP.AX).
[ID:nN06449937] "There are a number of potential supply issues hanging over
the market," said Gayle Berry, an analyst at Barclays Capital.
"That's offering a little bit of support." Aluminum MAL3 ended at $1,845 from $1,822. Zinc MZN3
closed at $1,935 a tonne from $1,921 and battery material lead
MPB3 at $2,155 from $2,150. Steel-making ingredient nickel MNI3 closed at $18,600 from
$18,130 and tin MSN3 at $14,700 from $14,675. Latest LME data showed that a dominant position still holds
more than 90 percent of tin stock warrants and cash contracts. The premium for cash material over the three-month future has
fallen to $430 a tonne from $695 a tonne last week on talk that
the position could be scaled back. [ID:nLN605546]
Metal Prices at 1842 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct Move End 2008 Ytd Pct move
COMEX Cu 276.75 -0.80 -0.29 139.50 98.39
LME Alum 1835.00 13.00 +0.71 1535.00 19.54
LME Cu 6090.00 -26.00 -0.43 3060.00 99.02
LME Lead 2146.00 -4.00 -0.19 999.00 114.81
LME Nickel 18600.00 470.00 +2.59 11700.00 58.97
LME Tin 14680.00 85.00 +0.58 10700.00 37.20
LME Zinc 1940.00 19.00 +0.99 1208.00 60.60
SHFE Alu 14835.00 130.00 +0.88 11540.00 28.55
SHFE Cu* 48190.00 1720.00 +3.70 23840.00 102.14
SHFE Zin 15330.00 240.00 +1.59 10120.00 51.48
** 1st contract month for COMEX copper * 3rd contract month for
SHFE AL, CU and ZN SHFE ZN began trading on 26/3/07
(Additional reporting by Michael Taylor and Pratima Desai in
London; Editing by Keiron Henderson and Christian Wiessner)

Commodity charts link

By Chris Kelly NEW YORK, July 16 (Reuters) - Copper fell to its lowest level
in about two weeks on Friday after a double-dose of data from the
United States raised fears of a double-dip recession in the
world's largest economy. "The problem I see with copper is right here in the United
States and in Europe," said Sterling Smith, an analyst for Country
Hedging Inc in St. Paul, Minnesota. "We have had a plethora of bad data over the last 10 days, or
so .... I am growing more of the opinion that if we are not
already in the midst of the double-dip, we are on the precipice,"
he said. Copper for September delivery HGU0 on the COMEX metals
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange plunged 8.25 cents,
or 2.7 percent, to finish at $2.9295 per lb, its lowest level on a
settlement basis since July 2. On the London Metal Exchange, benchmark copper CMCU3 shed
$195 to end at $6,485 per tonne. In after hours business, selling
momentum dragged it down further to $6,477 per tonne, a low dating
back to July 6. The metal used in power and construction has ranged between
$6,300 and $6,900 since the middle of June. Economic sentiment, already fragile from worse-than-expected
manufacturing data and dovish U.S. Federal Reserve minutes this
week, took another hit from data Friday showing U.S. consumer
prices fell for a third straight month in June and consumer
sentiment crumble in early July to its lowest level in 11 months.
[ID:nN1653074] "I think we have a situation here where copper, which is a
good leading indicator of the economy, is telling us that things
are not happy and not good," Country Hedging's Smith said. He added the market was still digesting Thursday figures from
top-consumer China, showing its annual gross domestic product
growth moderated to 10.3 percent from 11.9 percent in the first
quarter. [ID:nTOE66D06L] DEMAND SCEPTICISM The euro EUR= pulled back from a two-month high versus a
broadly weaker dollar, while the dollar index .DXY erased
earlier losses and moved into positive territory later in the
session. [USD/] Despite its usual tendency to boost dollar-denominated assets
when under selling pressure, the dollar's earlier weakness did
little to stem market declines. "You can see in other times when you'd have the same magnitude
of a euro rally, it would have had much more of an impact ... we
are just not seeing the speculative demand push into the market,"
one COMEX trader said. "There is questionable economic conditions, and traders are
looking at these markets with some scepticism on the demand side,"
he said. Three-month aluminum CMAL3 was last bid at $1,978/$1,979 a
tonne from $2,018 at the close on Thursday. Zinc CMZN3 slipped
$13 to end at $1,797, tin CMSN3 sank $200 to $17,750, and lead
CMBP3 ended $1,770 a tonne from Thursday's last bid at $1,798. Nickel CMNI3 shed $450 to finish at $18,950 per tonne.